I was looking down the long hallway when something hit me in the head. The brown paper bag bounced to the floor and I bent down to pick it up careful to keep my skirt pulled down and my legs together. Behind me my friends were laughing. I gave them a confused smile and unrolled the top of the brown paper bag. It was filled with scraps of paper.
This was middle school. Friendship was the only way to survive.
I walked to social studies, my only classroom without windows. My desk was in Read more [...]

JEW-ISH. ON EATING AS A CULINARY JEW
In a town that had more jews than gentiles levels of Judaism were carefully parsed. Would you skip school only for high holy days or for all holidays? Do you go to Sunday school or Hebrew school? Would your Bat Mitvah be more about the torah or the hora?
I termed myself a culinary jew. Very little temple, missed school as a nod to religion not to practice religion. But I was all in on the eating. There were the delicious things like the latkas and matzoh Read more [...]

I woke up this morning thinking about Tom Brady.
Not in THAT way.
I was thinking about the TB12 diet for which I forked out $78 dollars to fork up plants for 3 nights.
The diet was doomed from the start. The box arrived marked perishable and somehow was left at the very edge of our property amidst the traffic of elementary schoolers. A kind neighbor friend left her car idling to bring the box all the way to our door and was attacked by the school parking people. The normal parent patrol Read more [...]

2005.
I might not have started with this one if you hadn't (gleefully) pronounced that you have vomited more than anyone else in the family. Sadly (or happily depending on your attitude which is almost always good) this is true. You were born with reflux. It was so ridiculous that I lay awake at night designing a new kind of baby sleeper which kept you strapped in and upright. Then we discovered that the swing did the trick and for several months you slept in a swing. Granny worried we would have Read more [...]

Beneath the noise of the coffee shop David Bowie sings.
He thinks his spaceship knows which way to go.
As I stand in line for my English Breakfast tea the barista admits that he front loads the playlist with his own choices and I see him in silent song daring Major Tom to leave the capsule. I think about the amount of faith that is required for bravery. Major Tom needs to step outside his tin can to see the difference in the stars. He needs to trust ground control, himself and the entire Read more [...]

For the last decade of my father's life he was a virtual shut it. He shuffled down the glass hallway between our house and studio in his slippers sloshing coffee as he went. By the end of each week it were as though our tiles were cow patterned with each brown splash on the white ceramic background. Each Thursday they were mopped clean leaving him a fresh palate for the upcoming days.
He wore a stretched grey sweatsuit and his sculpting assistant who camped in the loft above his gymnasium sized Read more [...]

We worry about teaching our kids resiliency, kindness and how to eat a balanced meal. We are focused on the wrong things. If your kid can't make a penis joke you have more parenting to do.
1. You kids understand penis humor
Me: "I like a firm banana."
11 year old: giggle.
9 year old: "what's funny? Wait...are you talking about penises?"
11 year old: "Why yes, yes she is"
9 year old: "Thought so."
2. Your kids express a feeling of cosmic emptiness.
11 yo: "You know what's Read more [...]

Just because I know 20 ways to promote a blog post doesn't mean I promote my blog post 20 ways. It is a big huge blogging world out there and it can be hard to find your audience if you are a half-assed blogger. Here is a numbered list (because the blog gods like them) to work with if you are motivated, organized, and patient. My blog is a self hosted WordPress blog. Some of these things work only for WordPress. Some work everywhere. Some may work nowhere.
Low Hanging Fruit (Easy)
Stumble Read more [...]

The eyes I know. They are the same royal blue with dark grey flecks that I have admired for 11 years. Beneath them the cheekbones seem new. The smattering of freckles that made him seem young and cute now make the strength of his face look open and friendly. It is not just his face that is made of more sturdy stuff. I grab onto his shoulders for emphasis and they are more mountain than bird wing. As a new mother I always felt it was possible he would fly off and leave but now I see that he his Read more [...]

There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.
Leonard Cohen
Next to me Steve rolls over to bury his good ear in the pillow. He clutches the comforter and pulls it to his face to better create a cocoon.
He is not a morning person.
I have been awake for an hour but just like my husband I am not quite conscious. Despite weeks of morning meditation my first instinct is still to hit the mute button.
I have my phone in my hand flipping through the color coded screens in an Read more [...]

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